Taken - Editing

Taken

I have decided to write about is Taken. I will be analysing the scene where the daughter of Bryan Mills (played by Liam Neeson) is taken by a group of corrupt Albanians. There are two locations in this one scene. The first one being the house in which Neeson’s daughter and her friend have been taken from in Paris. The other location being the house in which Neeson is living in back in the United States. 

The method used to join the shots together is the straight cut method. The straight cut method gives the scene a really fast pace as it quickly cuts from one location to another. The faced paced editing gives the scene a real frantic feel which has the audience worried, anxious and always on the edge of their seat. This fits with the storyline as the daughter is desperately trying to escape from the Albanian kidnappers.  The fast paced editing really highlights the danger that the young girl and her friend are in. 

The shots within the film are matched are not smoothly visually transferred. The shots are quickly and sharply matched together to concentrate on the fast paced franticness.  The director, Pierre Morel, has used an establishing shot at the start of the scene to show that the girls are in their house. However, the rest of the scene is mainly made up of close ups of the daughter’s face and the father’s face. This is to show the concept of mise-en-scene which is facial expressions. The close up shots shows the facial expressions very clearly which tells the audience exactly how the character is feeling at that certain moment.

The sequences are constructed in a discontinuous manner as there is more than one location in the scene.  The scene is constantly swapping between the two locations to show both the daughter’s reactions and the father’s reactions to the situation they are in. The director has used a montage as there is a rapid succession of close up shots in the scene. There are juxtaposing close up images of the daughter and father which have been edited in fast rapid manner.  It gives us a great effect because it shows that although the characters are on the opposite side of the world to each other, they are still involved in the same horrific situation.

The director has used cross cutting as the camera is constantly cutting away to another action point and location.  Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. A lot of suspense is added as a result of cross cutting. Cross-cutting also forms parallels; it illustrates a narrative action that happens in several places at approximately the same time.

To support the suspense in the scene, both digetic and non-digetic sound has been used.  Digetic sound is sound that the character can also hear. In this case, it’s the girl screaming on the phone to her dad while she is being taken. This gives the audience a real insight into how the character is actually feeling and it puts us into their shoes. There is also non-digetic sound in the scene. This is sound which the character cannot hear but the audience can. In this case, the non-digetic sound is the fast paced frantic music in the background which adds a little suspense to the scene which constantly keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.

"The magazine industry has survived the coming of the digital age because it has been able to exploit technological advances. Indeed, it has always done so throughout its long history"

There is currently a plethora of magazines in the UK. The magazine industry is experiencing higher sales, and more sales than ever before. There is continued innovation, evolution and brand extension as the market for magazines continues to rise. Statistics show that almost 80% of the UK public read a magazine meaning the sales are consistently high. The UK has supposedly the the most diverse market in the world and there are hundreds of different titles published every year to meet customer needs.  However, major organisations such as IPC Media are threatening and look likely to completely over rule the magazine industry as they continue their domination.

As the development of technology continues, so does the development of digital media. Since the 1990s. we have seen many developments in the digital magazine market. In 1995, CD-rom magazines were first introduced. And one year later in 1996, electric auditing was introduced with mags such a X-Net. These technological developments will benefit the magazine industry. These developments just continue to give the oppurtunity to more and more people to read magazines. This decade we have continued to see developments. Magazines have been established as a medium. Almost 80% of people read a magazine. Magazines have even moved to digital TV and youtube. The  development of magazines over the years has a bad effect on other forms of media however. As the magazine industry continues to rise, the industry for newspapers is falling and TV industry is only staying steady.  However, giant companies such as IPC media are beginning to dominate the magazine industry. And this is and will continue to crush smaller businesses in the magazine industry. More woman read IPC a year than any other publisher - newspapers and magazines. IPC publish 500 different titles a year and roughly 43 copies are sold every second. IPC Media is a scarily dominant force in the magazine industry.

The future prospects for magazines are looking good. The development of technology and the digital media will continue to provide new ways for people to read magazines. Magazines are constantly continuing to evolve to meet the needs and demands of the customers. The rising magazine industry will continue to cause the market for newspapers to fall however. We may also see a fall in the TV industry if we continue to see innovations in the magazine industry. However, the dominance of giants IPC continue to threaten the future prospects of smaller businesses in the magazine indusrty.

IPC

1. Why did IPC Media have cause to be optimistic about their business prospects in 2006?

In the year 2006 IPC media received 35% of the entire revenue of Magazines in Britain. Magazine sales surpassed that of Television and Newspaper, with a wide array of readers of both genders and all ages reading and purchasing magazines. 

2. According to the article in THE GUARDIAN (Jan 2009) why are the major players in the British magazine industry better placed to weather the economic crisis?

These major players have expanded into other media, these include TV, web, radio, shopping and mobile. This makes the foundations of the companies strong with a wide array of media rather then one standalone project.

IPC Media

> Magazine industry experiencing higher sales, more revenue and more sales than ever before.
> 500 launches of titles a year.
> TV steady, Newspapers falling. Magazines rising. Future prospects look good for magazines.
> Almost 80% of the UK read a consumer magazine.
> Proven advertising success.
> Continued innovation, evolution and brand extension.
> 43 copies sold every second.
> UK has the most diverse market in the world.
> More women read IPC in a year than any other publisher.
> 71.8% of men read a magaizne.
> 82% of woman read a magazine.


IPC CONTINUALLY EVOLVES TO MEET CUSTOMER NEEDS.

Re-establishing Shot

Once a scene has progressed for a while with shot/reverse shot showing the charcters in close-up, a re-establishing shot, which is a return to a long shot (establishing shot) of the overall space, re-orientates the viewer into the scene.

Continuity Editing

Designed to make the fragments of film knit together invisibly and coherently so that the viewer understands the action and is not disrupted by the changes from one shot to the next.

The following are elements of continuity editing:
- The 180 Degree Rule
- The Establishing Shot
- Shot/Reverse Shot
- Eye-line Matching
- Matching on Action
- Re-establishing Shot

THE 180 DEGREE RULE - 'The axis of action' is the term used to describe an imaginary straight line drawn between protagonists in a scene. The camera position is planned around this lone. The purpose of the 180 degree rule is to ensure spatial continuity so that the viewer understands the overall space in which the action takes place and to maintain consistency of screen direction.

THE ESTABLISHING SHOT - In the continuity system a scene will start with an establishing shot, which is a long shot showing the overall space in which the scene is to take place.

SHOT/REVERSE SHOT - Conservation between characters is usually presented using a shot/reverse shot, sometimes called an over the shoulder shot because the shoulder of one character is often within the frame.

EYE-LINE MATCHING - This is where the first shot shows a character looking off screen at something/someone and the second shot shows the object/character being looked at from the first character's point of view. This ensures that even if characters are not in frame together we are sure of their whereabouts.

MATCHING ON ACTION - The first shot might show a character starting to walk across the room, the second shows the same character arriving at the other side of the room. The middle part has been cut out but continuity is maintained because the action is consistent.

Editing and Sound

One of the ways in which a film-maker can minimise the fragmentary nature of film is to use sound to provide continuity from one shot to the next. The images might frequently change but they can be connected by a musical score that has the effect of knitting the shots together into a scene or sequence.

DIEGETIC SOUND - Sound in the film that the characters can hear/make

NON-DIEGETIC SOUND - Sound that only the audience can hear